DM Monitoring
ANKARA: The Turkish minority living in Greece spoke out against a new court ruling denying them their rights under both Greek and international law.
On Wednesday, an application by the Xanthi Turkish Union – one of the oldest Turkish minority associations in Greece – to reregister was rejected by Greece’s Court of Cassation, denying for a third time the group’s nearly four-decade struggle to simply include the word “Turkish” in their name.
The ruling caused deep frustration among the Turkish minority, said a statement by the Western Thrace Turkish Minority Consultation Council (BTTADK).
Stressing that the council expects Greek courts to act in line with a 2008 European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruling on such matters, the statement said Wednesday’s ruling reflects Greece’s denial of the presence of its Turkish minority in the country. “We, as the Turkish-Muslim minority in Western Thrace, want to express our discomfort in the face of the ongoing anti-democratic and rejectionist attitude,” the statement said.
The ruling proved, once again, that democracy and equality, as well as international law and human and minority rights, have eroded in Greece in recent years, the statement added.
The Friendship, Equality and Peace Party (DEB) – a party popular among Greece’s Turkish minority – said the court ruling contradicts the concept of human rights, democracy, and minority rights.
“We once again would like to emphasize that complying with the ECtHR verdict would contribute to democracy in our country,” said a party statement.
The party stressed that it will continue to support the Xanthi Turkish Union’s justified struggle.
The Western Thrace Turkish Teachers Union (BTTOB), another prominent Turkish minority group, said the court ruling was troubling and unacceptable for the Turkish minority’s future and reiterated its support for the Xanthi Turkish Union’s struggle for Turkish minority rights.
